do YOU guys mind being bothered by others commenting on your cameras?

StillKicking said:
I do find it funny how most people seem to think you can't buy film anymore.
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It is one of the most asked questions when somebody asks me about the camera I'm using.

Heck, even my dad asks me "can you still get film for that one?", whenever he sees me with a 'new' camera.
 
I had my pentax me super and m2 bandolier around my neck last night at a wedding.
I got "Are those film?" "yep"
I got "you can still buy film for those?" "yep"
I got "Aren't you scared of ruining the film and losing your shots?" "nope"
(attractive girl asks) "why are you wearing two cameras? Is one a different focal length? or do you have different films in each?" "let me buy you a drink"
 
When I shot large format on the steet, I'd get lots of looks, comments and people coming up to talk to me. It came with the territory -how can you expect NOT to be approached when you got a huge tripod, camera with bellows, dark cloth....best comment I got was, "when is the gun powder flash gonna go off?".

When I was in NYC, I got a lot of people scoping me out and then coming up to ask "is that a Leica?" and then want to talk about gear. I don't like to, especially when I'm around shooting photos and trying to get a feel for the scene and remain anonymous. It got to the point where I would just make eye contact, say "yeah", turn and walk away. I just don't have patience to have the same meaningless conversations over and over again about a specific brand of equipment. I have some friends that are photographers and I can count the number of times on one hand that we had a gear-head conversation. Some shoot film, some shoot digital and none of us really care what the other is shooting and we display photos together and talk about PHOTOGRAPHY.
 
richardhkirkando said:
I only get annoyed when people ask "What are you going to do now that Kodak is out of business?"
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:D

Heard that one at least three times last weekend when I was out shooting with Rolleiflexes and a Leica. Sigh. News agencies all over the world simplified the Kodak news to "Kodaks gone" :bang:

One thing Kodak should do is some viral campaign saying 'We are not dead, we are Kodak'

And, the Rolleiflexes indeed command a lot of attention (and subsequently handed out business cards :)), while the black M2 isn't recognized as a film camera at all. One the one hand the chit chat can be bothersome (especially when people come up that disrupt work), on the other hand it does generate the kind of attention that makes people remember the friendly fellow with the big cameras (and his business card:))
 
richardhkirkando said:
I only get annoyed when people ask "What are you going to do now that Kodak is out of business?"
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Actually ... I've had that twice in the last month or so!

The only camera I've gone street shooting with that caused serious interest was my Crown Graphic.
 
I can't imagine why anyone would be annoyed by people taking an interest in their camera, I love speaking to people about them. The only camera I've ever had consistent luck with people commenting on it is my x100. For some reason, people compliment it non-stop wherever I go. I guess they recognize good design when they see it!
 
People in Harlem NYC deeply dislike people like me walking around taking pictures there. That I lived in Harlem for a long time is of course not taken into account; nor that I take pictures everywhere I go. But it pisses people off, young men and old men. Not women so much. They totall don't care what camera it is.
 
I enjoy talking about film/film cameras but what annoys me most is when people think that I shoot film to be hip or something of that nature (I'm 24) or when they believe film/film cameras to be better in a superficial sense.

I only talk to strangers sensibly, I certainly would never interrupt them if they're shooting or talk about the price. Talking about money/price is lame in any context.
 
Personally I find nothing more irritating than being approached by someone just to ak about my camera. Might be different if its a photography-related conversation, but having some sort of camera fetish-related converation with soneone I don't even know is right at the bottom of my list. Guess its the interruption I hate really, if I am focussed on shooting, and if going to be interrupted from the slightly zen-like state I feel when I go out shooting, I would prefer it was for something interesting :)
 
I don't mind a little bit of chat, but I'm not that sociable a person, so I would not want it all that frequently. It's downside of having cool cameras like Hasselblad, Leica etc. that you attract attention that a DSLR or m43 camera would not.
 
My advise if you take photographs in Eastern Germany:
Don't carry a Praktica!
One of three persons will stop and tell you:
"Oh, a Praktica. I had also one once..."
Really annoying....
 
I got an XP1 last month. I put a piece of tape over indicator lamp on the back of the camera because the blinking was so dam annoying in low light situations. Then I put some tape that covered the illuminating lamp and the microphone holes on the front, plus the speaker hole on the side. Mainly because I was out in the rain and wanted a bit of protection. Finally prior to going out shooting with some friends I covered the name on the top plate as a joke. Of course there were lots of comments and chuckles.

I've left the tape on and now I get a lot of comments from folks thinking it's a film camera which leads to some interesting discussions. Or I get questions asking what kind of camera is that? Mostly they get the standard answer "if I tell you I'd have to kill you."

I don't know how long it will last or if it'll get annoying enough for me to remove the tape. But I don't mind it at this point.

--Rich
 
I don't have a problem with it. I enjoy the chance to discuss photography esp film. I have also met some nice folks that way.
 
msbarnes said:
But do you guys get annoyed when someone comments on your camera (e.g. Leica, Rollei, etc.)?
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I can't imagine anybody being annoyed because somebody's commenting on the camera. Unless the comment is "that camera is a POS" or something along those lines, then yeah, that'd be annoying.

msbarnes said:
Well today I saw some dude with TWO M9's around his neck. (...) One of his M9's had tape so I explained to my friend that they do that to be discreet and (I) explained how it's kind of useless in my opinion because can't really hide a Leica.
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There you go: opining on how somebody doing something you won't do is useless in your opinion is not a comment on the camera, it's a comment on the camera operator. I can see that annoying people.
 
I love talking to strangers, about anything but it's usually come about from either the camera itself or me taking pictures. I've had some amazing conversations as a result of people coming up to me in the street or if I've stopped for a coffee. Jocelyn Bain-Hogg, a VII agency photographer, stopped to chat about my old M8 whilst in Cambridge on an assignment and I remember a lady who worked as a 'blunt,' her term, back in the 50s' and 60s' on Fleet St. Two very illuminating conversations and well worth the time away from photographing.

I only get mildly hacked off when the conversation is about megapixels, and it's always males who bring this up:D or if I miss a really good shot...but then I miss plenty anyway so why stress about it.

With regard to the black tape. I don't think it makes a jot of difference to anyone but the photographer themselves. If it gives them that little extra confidence then that's cool. I used to tape my M8 but don't bother with my M9....though some may say that's just about showing off ;)

When I'm working with my DSLR gear I dread being stopped as any conversation will nearly always be about megapixels or how good the VR is on my 70-200!
 
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